AI Article Synopsis

  • - The Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action project aims to enhance child mortality tracking in Mozambique by improving reporting of vital events and analyzing causes of death using verbal autopsy and Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) techniques.
  • - A socio-anthropological study in Quelimane investigated local attitudes toward MITS by engaging healthcare providers, traditional authorities, and community leaders through interviews and discussions to identify factors that could facilitate or hinder acceptance.
  • - Key facilitators for MITS acceptance included the desire to know causes of death and the need to alleviate accusations of witchcraft, while barriers involved community mobilization issues, religious disagreements, and traditional beliefs; thus, effective implementation should involve diverse community leaders.

Article Abstract

The Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action project aims to implement a child mortality surveillance program through strengthening vital registration event reporting (pregnancy, birth, and death) and investigating causes of death (CODs) based on verbal autopsies. In Quelimane (central Mozambique), Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) procedures were added to fine-tune the COD approaches. Before the implementation of MITS, an evaluation of the acceptability and ethical considerations of child mortality surveillance was considered fundamental. A socio-anthropological study was conducted in Quelimane, using observations, informal conversations, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with healthcare providers, nharrubes (traditional authorities who handle bodies before the funeral), community and religious leaders, and traditional birth attendants to understand the locally relevant potential facilitators and barriers to the acceptability of MITS. Audio materials were transcribed, systematically coded, and analyzed using NVIVO12®. The desire to know the COD, intention to discharge the elders from accusations of witchcraft, involvement of leaders in disseminating project information, and provision of transport for bodies back to the community constitute potential facilitators for the acceptability of MITS implementation. In contrast, poor community mobilization, disagreement with Islamic religious practices, and local traditional beliefs were identified as potential barriers. MITS was considered a positive innovation to determine the COD, although community members remain skeptical about the procedure due to tensions with religion and tradition. Therefore, the implementation of MITS in Quelimane should prioritize the involvement of a variety of influential community and religious leaders.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10160860PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.22-0343DOI Listing

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